1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor component assembly with a VSMP semiconductor component that includes at least one semiconductor chip, electrically conductive leads, and a housing enclosing the semiconductor chip. The leads are routed out at an edge (narrow side) of the housing. At least one electrically conductive and/or thermally conductive auxiliary element is received in a receptacle for the purpose of positioning the semiconductor component.
A multiplicity of new housing designs have most recently been developed for the ever more powerful semiconductor components. One of those designs is the so-called VSMP (Vertical Surface Mount Package) design, which is disclosed, for example, in published Japanese patent application JP-6-291 233 A and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,125 to Russell et al. (EP 0 682 366 A2). Those housings were previously proposed in particular for new high-performance memory modules. In the design, the leads are routed out only on a narrow side of the housing, the housing being arranged such that it stands vertically on a printed circuit board. The connections or leads are thereby each routed away alternately to a side, in order to increase the spacing between two leads on a side. As a rule, however, the distance between the leads is so small in this form that problems arise during mounting on the printed circuit board in the course of positioning and/or in the course of soldering in that position. These problems are additionally intensified by the vertical assembly of the component.
In this context, U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,125 discribes a semiconductor component assembly in which the vertically standing housing has alignment pins on its narrow side facing the printed circuit board. The pins cooperate with receptacles on the printed circuit board side. The receptacles are formed by through holes in the printed circuit board. When the alignment pins are inserted into the respectively assigned throughhole, the leads are thus prepositioned with regard to the printed circuit board. The threading-in operation and the monitoring of correct cooperation between the alignment pins and the throughholes are relatively difficult.